Prater kicks record 64-yard FG

DENVER (AP) — Matt Prater had a cold, and was dealing with icy temperatures and history as he lined up to kick the frigid football from his 46-yard line.

Nobody in the NFL had ever kicked a football through the uprights from this far away — 64 yards.

Tom Dempsey, Jason Elam, Sebastian Janikowski, David Akers. They had all done it from 63 yards.

Yet even as his right foot was numb, Prater’s nerves were calm.

Tight end Jacob Tamme would tell him after Denver’s 51-28 win over Tennessee a couple hours later that he stepped out of bounds at the Titans 46 on purpose so that he’d get a shot at the record. And for that, he owes him a steak dinner.

Prater cleared his mind, intent on not changing his routine.

“I just try to treat all those long ones the same and just basically try to blast them and hopefully they go straight,” he said.

It was 14 degrees, clear, a slight breeze at his back.

“I felt like I hit it pretty good. And I didn’t know. I honestly thought it was going to be really close.”

As he tracked the ball on its descent, Prater noticed Titans kick returner Leon Washington waiting to return the ball if it fell short. “And I saw him backing up, so I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, we might actually have to cover this.’”

Broncos coach John Fox said he’s sure everybody in the stadium was thinking of the great game last month when Chris Davis returned a missed field-goal attempt 100 yards for a TD on the final play to lift Auburn to a win over then-No. 1 Alabama, upending the two-time defending national champion’s BCS hopes and preserving the Tigers’ own.

“That was a concern,” Fox said. “But he nailed it.”

All Washington could do was turn and watch it clear the crossbar, a birds-eye view of the historic kick.

“I saw it all the way. It went maybe 3 inches over the bar, so good job by him,” said Washington, who trotted off with his head down as the officials raised their arms on either side of him and the Broncos celebrated like they’d won the game already.

The Broncos still trailed 21-20 at halftime.

“Even though we were down one if felt like it was tied or almost like we had the lead,” Peyton Manning would say after the Broncos finished off the Titans.

Holder Britton Colquitt jumped on Prater’s back before they headed toward the tunnel.

“I think he was more excited than I was,” Prater said.

Prater added a 19-yarder in the second half after the Broncos failed to score from the 1-yard line.

That means, Prater had both the longest and the shortest field goals in the same game.